Some things belong to all of us: the biosphere on which we all depend; our cultural heritage and history; public infrastructure like the judicial system and the internet. Some are bestowed to us by nature; others are the product of cooperative human creativity, some are entirely new (think of Wikipedia), others are centuries old (like our language, our skills in managing the land, our myths and ou
r musical traditions). Each forms part of a dynamic combination of laws, relationships, values, cultures, and commitments – interdependencies that are present in all our communities which enable us to live and work. The Cateran Trail itself exemplifies this common wealth and the people who live and work around the Trail and the many visitors who spend time in this beautiful part of Scotland enjoy its abundance. By harnessing the perpetual physical presence of the Cateran Trail, together with the ancient metaphorical power inherent in pathwalking and path making, Cateran’s Common Wealth will celebrate these valuable assets and find new ways of helping them flourish.
“a proper community … is a common wealth: a place, a resource, an economy. It answers the needs, practical as well as social and spiritual, of its members – among them the need to need one another.” Wendell Berry
